Tag Archives: Movie Review

The Boys From Brazil Review

Posted on by
Reply

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for one of those really grim movies. The kind of title where you know it’s not going to have a super shiny ending and the path to getting there will be very difficult. Definitely not for the faint of heart. That being said, either way this is not a film I would be likely to recommend. The plot certainly takes a turn by the end but it’s not the kind of turn that was going to save the movie.

The movie starts off with a kid named Barry finding out about a big Nazi scheme. This is big enough where all of their most important players are meeting up and so he quickly contacts the legendary Nazi hunter Ezra. Unfortunately Ezra doesn’t really believe him and is in a bad mood which leads to the villains murdering Barry before he can say more. When Barry’s friend approaches Ezra, the hunter realizes that he can no longer ignore what is going on. So he begins to snoop around and ask questions but what he doesn’t realize is that this is a plot that has been in the works for many years. It will be difficult to stop the plan and even more difficult to stop it without big collateral damage.

I do have to say that Ezra being so slow to help was a little off putting. The whole point here is that he is a big Nazi hunter and yet when the opportunity presents itself he isn’t ready for it? I would have liked for him to have been a little more on the ball. Now it’s fair to say that Barry was going to die either way but it would have still been nice if he would have at least had the knowledge that someone would continue on with his work. Barry did well to find out so much with his little amount of time and connections.

Meanwhile the main villain Josef is a hard man to bring down. This guy has a lot of connections and of course he is very eager to start everything off. The guy has been waiting for this moment for many years and absolutely does not hesitate. I wouldn’t expect him to either although at least one of his minions isn’t quite as gung-ho about the whole thing. At the end of the day it’s not much of a distinction though as he still goes through with the orders. Whether you follow them reluctantly or eagerly, the end result is what counts.

The villains are Nazis after all and the film doesn’t hesitate to remind you just how cruel they are. They run live experiments on both humans and animals, they viciously murder their opponents, etc. If you were expecting some kind of mercy or a softer look then think again. It’s definitely good that they don’t downplay the atrocities the Nazis committed but at the same time it does limit the movie.

It makes the experience more of a quiet somber one. At the very least it can be depressing to see the fact that so many of them were still alive and kicking there. There are enough for them to be in different companies, at parties, etc. Yeah you were definitely hoping they would all be bumped off. Meanwhile Ezra needed to step up his game as a hunter and take more of them down. From the accolades we know that he has taken a whole lot of them down but of course there are always more and that’s where things get tricky.

We do get to see some of Josef’s good detective skills at work though as he starts to interview people and put together dates in order to really close the noose around the villains. He pieces things together fairly quickly and also knows when to play hard ball like when he forced the lady to answer his final question. He was definitely getting that answer before he walked out of the facility.

So while I do have big issues with how he acted at first, at least later on he got with the program. He’s a lot older at this point so you can expect there to be no real fight scenes but he still gets to have his deductive moments. His sister Esther is also very useful in the film as she helps in an administrative role. As always it is good to have someone on your side. When you’re alone then the danger really starts to creep up on you.

Now the title of the film may have you confused but by the end it makes sense. That’s where the film hits you with the tough moral question of what you can do here. It sort of depends how hard you buy into the sci-fi angle here. In general I do find it hard to choose any option of punishing someone before the crime was actually committed. While the characters did already seem insane, it can still be a dangerous leap to try and neutralize everyone. I suppose I would probably lean on the main character’s decision here if pushed into a corner but ideally they should all be monitored. It’s just a tough call because that wasn’t going to happen. They would either all be slaughtered or you could prevent them from being found. When you are limited to those two choices then leaving them alive is probably best although things might get dicey for the world.

The film can get surprisingly violent at times. I would say the worst of it is still off screen but there is a body count to be sure. At the end of the day it’s a film that doesn’t really hold back at all and I would say there’s a number of scenes you could cut out. Ultimately though the biggest weakness really comes down to the fact that it feels like an investigation without much of an ending. When you really think about it, not much has changed since the beginning. At least some characters know what is going on now but the program was not fully stopped. Now it’s just a matter of nature vs nurture.

Overall, The Boys from Brazil definitely has an odd tone about it. It’s a thriller but not in an action sense and more in a rather strange kind of view. You see the dark underbelly of what’s going on without any true way for the heroes to come out on top. I can’t say there is a lot of fun to be had here, nor is there a whole lot of replay value. In the end this means you should probably check out another film instead, you can do better than this one.

Overall 3/10

Imaginary Crimes Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a dramatic film that incorporates a lot of second hand cringing. You can really sympathize with the tough spots that the main heroine was put into here. It’s definitely a tough situation for the kids and a general reminder that it’s okay to have dreams but you have to be responsible about them. If not, then you are really just setting yourself up for defeat. It definitely will not end well and the longer you put off your reality check, the bigger the consequences will be.

The film starts off by introducing us to Ray who has had to raise his two daughters Sonya and Greta by himself after his wife passed. Ray has always been a bit of a dreamer. He doesn’t want to work a standard 9-5 job, he acts as if this is beneath him. No, he’s going to get super rich and is quick to mention this at all times. None of his plans have worked out yet but he knows that they will at some point. He’s been conning people for years and lies as he breathes. Now he has managed to get Sonya into school but the lies are starting to catch up to him. Is he about to ruin everything?

Right off the bat I can say that you don’t feel too much sympathy for Ray. It’s one thing to be ambitious and want to do things your own way but the instant you start becoming a chronic liar about it, then you are knowingly doing something bad. By around the halfway point you start to doubt that Ray is as insane as he appears and instead it really seems like he just enjoys spinning his stories. He had to know where it was going and yet he kept on doubling down over and over. If anything he is incredibly lucky that he didn’t try that in a worse neighborhood or he would have been thoroughly beaten up a long time ago. You just can’t get away with these kinds of actions for very long. He had plenty of outs and at the very least could have kept the situation from snowballing out of control. Unfortunately he did not make that choice.

Meanwhile for Sonya, this often meant that she had to take care of her little sister Greta which limited the amount of free time she had on her own. She wasn’t able to be a kid in the ways that she should have been allowed to. Then Sonya is also old enough to know that her father is lying about everything which is super awkward for her. It’s not like she can do much to stop him and in the meantime has to just keep her head low and try to make the best of the day. Even when she does her best to try and cut Ray off or prevent him from making the lie worse, he just ignores her.

She definitely has the wort situation out of the group by far as a result. Fortunately she does her best and I give her full credit for taking care of her sister since that wasn’t always easy here. In the end she also makes the right decision to look to her future instead of taking the easy way out and making for a new location with Ray. You have to face up to things eventually after all and the sooner she gets it over with the better. She also met a nice teacher at the school who really helped her out by polishing up her writing abilities and looking out for her. Even having just one ally helps out a lot and in general the town seemed like a very nice one. That’s why it was a real shame that Ray was cheating them out of money.

One last fault for Ray is that he also appears as a very unreasonable guy. We get a flashback where his wife won some nice plates from a local raffle and he immediately starts insulting them. He seemed to take it very personally that she got the plates from somewhere else instead of him being able to provide for her. It was just in such a childish way that it makes him look so petty. She had always been patient enough to put up with his endless boasts and promises that would never come to fruition. The least he could do is be happy for her when she finally won something.

Additionally, during the films we see Sonya’s stories that she would submit to the school which were loosely based on her life. They were intentionally exaggerated so you don’t know exactly how much was true or not but in those stories we see Ray quickly rebounding with other women and generally looking like a rather terrible guy. So even if only a little bit of that was true, it just makes him look even worse. The problems that he created were all of his undoing and that is why it’s hard to feel bad for him. I just felt bad for the kids who had to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Overall, Imaginary Crimes does a good job of getting across that feeling of how hopeless things can be when you’re a kid and you know that something is not right. The main problem is that no matter how much you know, there’s not much a kid can do. I can’t really say that they could have done anything differently here. That’s why it all comes down to the father’s failure here because he needed to provide for his family. That’s the top priority and it has to come before pride and his visions of striking it rich. By this point he had to know that wasn’t going to happen and to continue trying for it would just be plain irresponsible. It was not a good idea. I’m not a big fan of the film but it’s not a bad title either. If this sounds interesting then you should check it out.

Overall 5/10

Training Day Review

Posted on by
Reply

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film about learning how to set boundaries. If you aren’t comfortable in setting those up then you can be sure that there will always be someone ready to run you over. You have to know what you don’t want to do so that you can’t be pressured into doing it. Well, the main character is about to learn that the hard way. This film ultimately suffers from the issue of not having any real likable characters though. It’s going for a very hood type vibe the whole time and in its pursuit of being as edgy as possible, the writing also ends up taking a huge hit.

The film starts off with Jake getting ready for his first day in his new NARC position. It’s effectively a training evaluation so he will be out all day. It’s supposed to be a very stressful experience so he’s ready for it to be over but will put his best foot forward. Unfortunately his partner is a guy named Alonzo who doesn’t exactly have a rep for following the rules. Alonzo gives him a tough time as soon as he day starts and doesn’t really let up from there. He wants to show Jake how meaningless everything is and how corrupt the area turned out to be. He wants Jake to do things his way or it will be curtains for him. Jake is desperate for a passing grade, but just how far will he end up going here?

I would argue that Jake makes a whole lot of mistakes right from the jump here. For starters it is true that you may have to put up with a certain level of nonsense on the job but direct disrespect is another matter entirely. Jake needed to really be fighting back from the start at the coffee shop when Alonzo was acting crazy but especially once they got in the car and Alonzo is talking about Jake cheating on his wife and trying to objectify their colleagues. Jake needed to put a hard stop to that even if it meant having to look for a new job. Putting up with that nonsense is bad enough because it shows you to be a wallflower but it also continues the decent into madness for the work environment. It’s just not something you can afford to let happen.

I would say Jake had no hope the instant he agreed to do drugs in the car just to keep Alonzo happy. That was just way too far and Jake is meant to be the more heroic cop who sticks up for what’s right. He does make better decisions later on and is obviously better than Alonzo but I would have liked to have seen him hold up a higher standard. I needed a super likable character in this movie to help it take things to the next level. For example, that’s part of why the movie isn’t very fun. Everything is super corrupt to an almost comical degree.

Throughout the film we see how basically everyone is in on the take. Alonzo is able to direct a judge, powerful politicians, and basically doesn’t have to report to work. All of the gangs know him and basically have to listen to the guy because he’s so feared. He’s evidently gotten away with things for a very long time now and we never even get to meet any of the good cops here who could have helped out. It ends up feeling like a very small world, a contrived one at that. There just isn’t really any hope for anybody here. Jake’s only chance is really to get out.

Alonzo does make for an intense antagonist, I’ll give him that much. He is clearly not the kind of guy that you want to go up against because he would murder you without a second thought. He also has a considerable amount of allies so you can’t just go at him without expecting a much larger fight. Maybe it’s for the best that he wasn’t even remotely likable since he’s a complete villain here but it also means that all of the screentime can be extra annoying.

The film also has to really bog us down in the very dark themes to really keep pushing in the point of what a bad area this is. Jake saves a girl from 3 guys who attacked her in an ally and Alonzo would have just left her there. The city is clearly as morally bankrupt as it gets and even after that, Jake follows Alonzo and gets walked into another trap. The whole poker game scene was a terrible look for the guy. Never hand your gun off to a bunch of drug dealers. Yeah he was already outnumbered and in a bad situation but handing over your gun is basically signing your death warrant. You can never do that.

I never understand in these films when someone drops their gun or hands it over for any reason. If you’re in a position where you might die, then you definitely keep your gun so at least the death will be fast as they all shoot back in retaliation. If you hand it over, then you may end up craving death by the time they’re done with you. Just a dumb decision and throughout the film it’s not as though there were any moments where the writing made me grin. All of the jokes are super crude and don’t even seem meant to be funny, the characters all seem evil except for the lead, etc. It’s just not a fun movie to watch as it’s just nonstop depression the whole time.

Overall, Training Day definitely wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. I was expecting a dynamic with one guy who does push the envelope quite a bit but more along the lines of a classic buddy cop film. Not as if the Joker was your partner as you terrorize everyone. If you want a good thriller, watch Die Hard instead. You can do a whole lot better than this film which really doesn’t end up aging well. Good luck finding any happy scenes throughout this film. At least the ending was satisfying.

Overall 3/10

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

Posted on by
Reply

Please note that this is a review of the TV-14 edited version of the film. A review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s finally happened, the John Wick has reached its final form. I can say without a doubt that this is the best film in the saga. It’s crazy to think that it’s been years since I saw the 3rd one. The first film was naturally held back by what happened to his dog, the worst way you could start a film tbh. The third film managed to squeeze in a dog getting shot as well which was super unnecessary and wasted too much time in the desert with a side character I didn’t care about. The second film had been my favorite one for a while there and I dare say it’s gotten even better in my memories but I may be forgetting some things. Either way this one surpasses it, I don’t really have many complaints here.

The film picks up where the last one left off, with Wick working to get revenge on the table and the continental for betraying him. He quickly puts a lot of people in a body bag but the Table isn’t going to go down without a fight. They are using every resource at their disposal to track down Wick and even destroy the Continental. This forces a bit of a truce with the owner and Wick. Is there really a way to defeat a global enterprise like the Table though? We’re talking literal millions of fighters on their side and at the end of the day Wick is only one man. He will have to bring his A game here.

If I do have a minor complaint here, it’s that I wanted to see Wick going up against the Continental. That could have been the opening action set piece with him being the one to destroy the hotel and then the rest of the film plays out like normal. Wick ultimately letting bygones be bygones and not taking it too personal does make sense within the framework of the world but it still felt like a tease from how the last film left off. It heavily implied a big fight was to come, rather than setting Wick up against the new villain in this film.

The film also quickly addresses any concerns you might have had about the idea of beating an endless organization and it’s clever while also working within the rules of the series. The movie is quite long and as you can expect, nearly all of it is a long string of various fight scenes. You will definitely get your fill of action here. If you don’t want a lot of fighting then you’ve certainly come to the wrong movie. I’m sure some hardcore fans have probably counted the exact minutes of fight scenes to see which one has the most but I would not be surprised if this film ends up taking the crown on that.

There are some new characters that show up here to expand the cast but all in all the series does a good job of keeping each installment fairly light with the characters. One of them is a hitman known as Nobody. He’s really good at his job and while I did not find him as impressive as some of the other hitmen throughout the series, he obviously does have a lot of skill. He does well to play the long game even if he does underestimate the other players quite a bit. In a straight fight Wick is taking him down easily and I doubt he would pose much of a thread to the table.

Caine is a much stronger rival in this film. I do have to say that I had a hard time taking him seriously though. He’s completely blind so in the film he has different gadgets that help him keep track of his opponents. It’s just too much of a liability though, especially when his whole head is exposed for any gunshots. I don’t see how he has lived this long and has too many weaknesses. I can believe him being super powerful in close combat but there’s no way he would live this long in this world. Once he went blind that should have been the end of his career. I was glad the film showed Wick is more skilled but I would argue that the gap should be much wider than it was here. The film is also a reminder of why having any family while being a hitman is not advised since that’s just another word for future hostage.

Winston gets a pretty solid role in this film. It’s not like he’s a fighter in his prime so he’s not going around stabbing everyone but he does well with the word games and keeping the other fighters sharp. He is good in the support role and is always around to give Wick some really important advice. Likewise the king of the underworld always has some good equipment for Wick. Without his help, Wick would definitely have not made it over to the final showdown in time since the shortcut saved a bunch of time.

The main villain, the Marquis is okay. I don’t think he was as impressive as most of the other villains but the film had some powerful villains to take the primary role. Mostly he is here to be smug the whole time. While he isn’t a big fighter, we can assume that he had some moves in order to make it this far. A quick fight would have been fun to see but that’s just not his style. If you can’t fight, at least be smug. So he gets that part right and his right hand man looks very impressive in the battles.

As always, it is worth noting that the film is quite violent so you will want to watch out for that. If you have an aversion to blood then naturally this isn’t the movie for you. The film mainly keeps it all to violence in combat here though so in some ways it doesn’t feel as violent as some of the other films. It also could just be a time thing where I’m more used to it now. Violence comes in many forms and that could be its own editorial someday but violence in combat is definitely the most palatable kind of violence. It’s something that the fighters have signed up for and you’re not dwelling on each kill. Wick mows down dozens and dozens of fighters in the movie but it’s not like any of them are being tortured. They’re being shot or stabbed and then he moves on to the next one.

The film does have a dog taking a heavy hit at one point which again feels really unnecessary. Why do you always bring dogs into this? At least he was okay and it wasn’t as serious as the bullet wound from last time so it didn’t really hurt the film but it definitely did put me on notice. The long climax is also one of the better ones, and by that I mean arriving to the final battle. The final battle itself is only okay but for narrative reasons it’s not like the characters are taking it all that seriously.

The soundtrack for the film is really good. There are quite a number of solid tracks that appear and support the fight scenes. You definitely get into the action mood right with the various themes. The visuals are also really stellar and you can tell that the film really takes pride in finding great locations. Everything about the film always feels like there was a lot of really high production values across the board. From the writing to the choreography. I’d say it’s a big reason as to why the series is so successful.

Now, the film isn’t without its plot armor which is pretty unavoidable in a long action film like this. The final plan relies on the villain hesitating before shooting. Many of these big fight scenes also rely on nobody being able to land a clean headshot and then one meeting with another group relies on them not just immediately finishing Wick off. I guess you need a little bit of luck in order to be the best.

I’d say one of the best scenes in the film is definitely the brief poker game. I always like it when a film or any kind of media gets all of the big hype characters in a room. It also doesn’t end up making everyone look terrible like in Agents of Shield where everyone got together only to be held at gunpoint by randoms. Here, everyone keeps their hype and the film also not so subtlety gives us some contrast between them and how each one has a plan to get out of there. I’d even say the film tends to have a bit of a morbid sense of humor at times which is always handled well.

Overall, This was definitely a lot of fun. The film’s ending is technically one of the weaker ones as both 2 and 3 had way better cliffhangers but I did think the final scene was a solid way to end things off. Revenge is one of those never ending cycles but I was rooting for the lady to have her get back moment. Hey, things will always be sad for one character in a revenge plot but you gotta take a side. Meanwhile I expect to see a lot more of John Wick taking names in the next film. It’s hard to say who could be a real threat to him at this point so I think the next logical step would be to make it a protection mission of sorts. A kid stumbles into the wrong scene at the wrong time and Wick protecting her causes him to be in another tricky spot? The danger wouldn’t be to him so much as her sort of limiting his options. Either way I’m sure they can think of something and I’ll be curious to see if they can top this one. I would also like him to be revered more as a legendary hitman again. I know you need everyone to try their luck against him for the action scenes but would random number 58 really try to shoot his shot when he just saw the last 57 guys get immediately shredded? I’d like a scene of at least one guy running away after he gets to the scene, would be another effective humor moment.

Overall 8/10

Bang the Drum Slowly Review

Posted on by
Reply


Usually you expect a Baseball film to be a rather happy one. Some kind of slice of life or really competitive sports title. Well, this one decides to switch things up a bit by being more of a dramatic, sad affair. The tone manages to still stay light for the most part but there is something looming over you the whole time. I would say how much you enjoy the film may come down to how sad you find it.

The movie starts with Bruce finding out some bad news, he is dying. He has a rare disease that is quite fatal and will begin to deteriorate his body over time. Only Bruce and his best friend Henry know about this and they decide not to tell anyone. Although naturally that begins to be a hard secret to keep for very long so eventually more and more people find out. How will Bruce handle his impending death?

Nobody knows the exact point of their death and that’s why it can always be an interesting topic. If you know that you will most likely die within the next year, how would that affect your life? I imagine for some people it would be a little liberating. For others it would be rather scary. It depends on what you believe happens after death. As a Christian I’d be rather excited since that means I’ve made it to the end of the road. Of course you’d rather not deal with the pain and all but there’s nothing scary about death. If anything it can be seen as something to look forward to, although of course you can’t rush it.

If you don’t have a solid future to look forward to, then of course it’s going to be sad and depressing. The film is definitely banking on this being a really sad affair and so that’s where I’d say it doesn’t land quite so effectively. It’s not a bad film by any means but I’d put it near the middle. It has some pretty funny scenes and I actually thought the humor was really on point when it would let the jokes fly. If anything this film would have been a really good comedy and they could have just had the doctor show up at the end and say it was a false positive. Of course it’s just not that kind of film but that would have been an interesting way to go about it.

Throughout the film, Henry shows himself to be a great friend. He helps Bruce out a lot with getting everything straightened out and also doesn’t let the guy get taken for a sucker by a lady with big ambitions. It would have been nice if he could have gotten Bruce to really understand what was happening a bit more but when love is involved that can get really tricky. In the worst case, you could blow up the friendship right when Bruce needs it most. So Henry made the tough call and things worked out well enough.

Even though Bruce was the one dying, Henry certainly had to endure a whole lot on his end as well. He even crashes out at one point which is fairly obligatory in films like this but still more on the annoying side. That was a whole lot of property damage after all. Meanwhile Bruce wasn’t the smartest guy around but he did his best to always be a nice guy. By the end he even started playing a little better and everyone started being nicer to him. So at least he got to end things off on a high note.

Meanwhile there is a subplot where the coach is trying to figure out what is going on and keeps on getting closer to the truth. I really liked how determined he was and no amount of lies could keep him away. It’s why he was a good coach, he knew his players inside and out. It can be tough to call out a lie but he never backed down. The scenes are also played up quite a bit with the humor and they end up being quite funny.

The writing is solid throughout and the pacing is pretty good as well. On a technical level I didn’t really have any problems with the film. It will just have a hard time keeping your attention the whole time because there just isn’t a whole lot to it. It feels like the film is missing something and it’s hard to say exactly what that would be. One possibility would be to have continued the film after Bruce’s death and now Henry has to fight that one lady in court. That could have been a pretty interesting climax even if it would be a bit far away from Baseball at that point. Alternately maybe more Baseball scenes? I’m not quite sure if that is what would really take things all the way through to the next level but just some things I’d throw out there as possibilities.

Alternately maybe a first act to see more of Bruce’s dynamic with the team before he actually gets really sick. That could work as well and really show us more of a contrast on how they all act after they find out that he is dying. We certainly have less screentime of the original dynamic compared to the new one. The team never really struck me as bad guys either. Yes there was quite a bit of ribbing but that seems normal for any kind of sports team. Maybe I’m just too used to it at this point but for example nothing in the film felt particularly malicious. They did their best to walk on eggshells later on and be extra nice but for some, they’d probably prefer to keep going with the banter and act normal.

Overall, Bang the Drum Slowly is a reasonable film. It doesn’t have a whole lot of replay value and could have probably either focused more on the humor or added another subplot to keep you engaged. That said, it’s a very unique kind of Baseball film so you could definitely check it out on that basis. It’s certainly not trying to be a clone of anything else or being generic in any sense. There is even a sad song that plays at one point during the film to try and drill the message home.

Overall 5/10

Stranger on the Run Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a western that I can’t say I had heard of before. It’s a pretty interesting tale about what happens when you go into the wrong town. You’ve probably watched or at least read some stories with a similar premise but usually it’s more for a short adventure and not the full length movie. You have a bit of a mystery going on here as well and then eventually the chase starts. It’s a good film although I do think the main character could have been a lot more solid.

The film starts off with Ben arriving in a own looking for a lady. Nobody wants to talk about her though and it’s clear that something shady happened. Ben isn’t super quick on the uptake about this though and keeps on asking questions to the point where he is beat up. He eventually gets someone to spill the beans and so now the whole town’s posse is after him. Can he manage to stay alive and take them to justice or is he doomed? Fortunately he will not be alone on this adventure.

Ben is a nice enough guy but the fact that he shows up drunk does not put him in the best shape to fight these guys off. He is too quick to go into the beer bottle and it also seems to make him not really notice the danger of his situation at times. These villains aren’t exactly subtle after all, they act extremely shady right out of the gate. Ben has to be prepared to take them all down if he wants to get his answers because otherwise he will be the one in a messy grave.

I’d say something the film does really well with the long runtime is developing the characters. You actually get to know just about everyone in the town rather well. You have the Sheriff who initially seems rather reasonable compared to the others but definitely has a dark side and really likes the power that he possesses. You’ve got his deputy who is on the older side but wants to still prove that he can fight with the best of them. There’s a kid who looks up to the posse and wants to be like them when he grows up, which always causes his mother to worry a lot.

The mother is mainly kept out of the loop on things but tries her best to keep her son on the straight and narrow. Then you have a few other members of the posse who are basically just thugs that really like to abuse their power. Long story short, you really don’t want to come to this town. The lady who went missing certainly didn’t pick a great place to go. The story doesn’t portray her as the nicest character around either but even so that’s no excuse for the other brutes going after her.

In a rough town like this it feels like you either make friends with the strongest one and stay relatively safe or you have to get out of there fast. It’s one of the scarier parts about the olden days since you couldn’t just drive out of there in your car. Walking would likely not be a good idea either so in the end while you’re waiting for the train anything can happen. Particularly when you have no friends to help you.

We do get the obligatory gunfight near the end in a rather prolonged gunfight. I’d say we mainly have two pretty long gunfights here and as always you do wonder how they don’t hit each other a bit sooner. There are times where the characters have no cover and still manage to come out on top. I suppose accuracy wasn’t all that back in the day so I can cut that a bit of slack. I tend to enjoy gunfights either way even when there isn’t a lot of connecting. It’s just fun to watch.

The action is on point here. I would say the only thing holding the film back is that it can feel a bit long at times. The mystery isn’t super captivating because you basically know how it’ll play out from the start and you’re just waiting for Ben to find out. The movie actually tricked me in that sense as I thought someone was dead from the start when that wasn’t the case. Ultimately it doesn’t really change things though. A better main character would make a world of difference since he wouldn’t just be running the whole time.

The title is appropriate since the second half is all about Ben running. Even by that point he’s asking for why he won’t be put on trial and that’s why I say he’s slow on the uptake. It’s pretty obvious that even if there was a trial, it wouldn’t be a fair one. At least he is a good shot and can fight once the dust is finally settled and he knows what is going on. It took some time but at least it did end up happening.

The most annoying character was the kid though. He froze up during the first gunfight, never really knew how to make his own decisions, and was easily manipulated. When you think about an annoying kid in any form of media, this is the kind of kid you’re thinking about. He thinks that he’s a man but doesn’t have the skills to back it up.

Overall, Stranger on the Run is a good film. It’s not the best western that I’ve seen but it certainly does beat a lot of others. It gets more right than wrong which is always the most important thing. It would be nice if Ben could have been a bit stronger and able to hold his own here against all of the thugs but realistically the numbers were not exactly in his favor. If he played his cards right he could have bumped them off a few at a time but of course that would be risky and ultimately he would be known as an outlaw. Ensuring there were 0 survivors and 0 witnesses would be really tough.

Overall 6/10

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to return to the world of the Guardians of the Galaxy where they have to deal with a whole new threat. The films have had their ups and downs to be sure but how would this one wrap things up? Well, unfortunately I would say that it is the weakest one of the 3. The Rocket subplot is a double blow since it introduces animal violence while also writing him out of most of the movie. A very risky call no matter how you slice it since he is such a popular character. Ah well, we still do have a lot of fun banter with the rest of the characters.

The film starts off with the Guardians still being in a rocky spot as Star Lord grieves over not having Gamora around anymore. She died and was replaced with an alternate version of herself that never actually dated him. Now he just gets drunk all day but when the team is suddenly attacked and Rocket gets into critical condition, Star Lord realizes that he has to get his game on. Rocket’s unable to be healed by the usual sci-fi tech because of a bomb inside his chest and so they need to find a way to deactivate it. This may mean going up against the high Evolutionary but the team has never allowed themselves to be deterred before and they aren’t about to start now.

So lets get the dicey parts out of the way first. The High Evolutionary’s whole gimmick is that he experiments on animals in order to evolve them further. He aims to make a new human race that is superior to the old one. So naturally in a film adaption that means that we are seeing a lot of animals in rough states. Several of them were essentially dismantled and are part cyborgs now. Rocket grew up with a bunch of them so we see this quite a bit. Fortunately the surgeries already happened as that would have really pushed the envelope into absolutely terrible stories but it is a really dark plot that to this day you never need in any kind of film. It’s never going to elevate things.

Rocket also had a lot of experiments done on him which were quite painful. It’s a subplot that really drags the film since we cut away to it numerous times. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary looks really bad the whole time. I’m used to him being a fairly poised villain who is in control but here he constantly whines and it out of his depth. He doesn’t seem to be a great super genius and was unable to find Rocket for many years despite the guy being a world famous Guardian. This guy’s utopia didn’t even work as he has actual drug dealers running around.

He says he’ll just start again but why would a new attempt be any different? He feels like he is just completely insane. That’s not a bad thing for a villain necessarily but at the same time I would say that it just doesn’t make sense amidst the wider context. I would argue it makes his whole goal seem weird since he wasn’t even close to succeeding and having Rocket won’t really help with that. he discards all of his test subjects too quickly.

While the film also did a number on Warlock in terms of totally changing his character, at least he was funny. I can see why longtime fans wouldn’t appreciate this version since he’s nothing like the comics/games but at least he looks reasonably strong. I would argue he should have crushed the Guardians with ease though since that team is hardly the strongest one out there. I suppose he just lets his guard down a little too quickly when the going gets tough. With the Sentry coming up, Warlock’s probably not going to be able to stand out quite as much in his next appearance.

Where the film is stronger is in the usual banter. If you liked their discussions in the first two films then you should like them here as well. This team loves to constantly be bashing each other and they’re always doing pranks. For better or worse, you can’t trust your teammates on the small stuff but you can count on them when the stakes are serious. Mantis is always pranking Drax despite his many protests, Star Lord seems like he can’t help but constantly flirt with Gamora, etc. The team is completely dysfunctional but you could say that’s part of the fun.

The only member who is mainly left out is Groot thanks to Rocket being gone the whole time. Still a rough decision I gotta say and they should have kept him awake the whole time and helping out, just have there be a time limit on the bomb or something. From the Guardians I would say Mantis was my favorite character. Yeah she is definitely very immature and gets the team into a lot of trouble but at the same time I would say she cares about the team the most. She is always doing everything she can in order to help the rest out. Her attempts sometimes backfire but it’s the thought that counts.

Gamora is also solid considering how much she has to put up with. She is completely a different person than the old one so it’s really not fair how much pressure they put on her. I was glad that she stuck to her guns and did not let peer pressure win. That would have been a pretty bad look if you ask me. It was also good to have at least one team member who could fight well and keep the team on track. I would say that’s Drax’s role but he still ends up being the team’s jobber for most of the film. He does well against Warlock in the opening fight though so I’ll give him that. He also gets some big moments near the end of the film.

I didn’t care much for Yondu’s replacement but at least he doesn’t appear much. He was being kinda rude to Cosmo for no good reason. Cosmo did good though and reminded viewers why he is one of the most powerful creatures here. His mental abilities are really impressive. Finally we have Star Lord and he does not look good at all here. Getting so drunk and wasted during the intro was really rough. I needed him to step up as the team leader a whole lot sooner than he did. This is supposed to be his team after all, it was time for him to man up and act like it. I already talked about the Gamora stuff but yeah he’s just too desperate. I think he works well as the whiny comic relief in most cases, the serious moments just don’t hit as hard.

The film does a good job of making him funny at least though. I would make the case that the humor in the film tends to land more than it doesn’t. For that reason I would label the film more as a comedy adventure than adding any action to it. We do get some good fight scenes but I would say no great ones. The first fight with Warlock is way too slow and the best fight is the room battle near the end where everyone fights at once. Unfortunately there isn’t a great climax fight this time. I think the reason is because the High Evolutionary can’t really fight so there was no big villain that would force the heroes to team up against him.

While the second film had a lot of faults, it did deliver on a rather big climax which also had Star Lord’s best scene in the MCU. If you take away the Rocket subplot entirely then this film has a clean win over the second film but with it then it does end up sinking more than expected. Ultimately I guess you just can’t beat the original film which had all the fun first meetings. It was probably the funniest as well. In general it’s not possible for every joke in a comedy film to land but I would say most of them did there. A good amount landed in this film as well though.

As for the music, I would say it’s a step down from the first two films. Maybe that means low key the new music eras can’t beat the 80s. That is definitely possible although I tend to like 2000s so maybe it’s just the selection. There were no themes here that felt like they would become iconic or anything like that. They were good enough but not crazy good. Meanwhile we don’t get the usual big stingers at the end of this film so the ending is rather subdued.

Overall, Guardians 3 could have been better. It definitely suffers from having one of the worst MCU villains to date and not having a proper super bad to end the film with. Removing Rocket from most of the film was not a good decision and of course his backstory really ended up hurting the film as well. This was just one negative too many for the film to get around and so that sealed its fate. I think if you go into the film as a fan of the Guardians and just want a fun time you may get the best out of this. If you’re going in as an action fan or a big comic book guy, then you are probably not going to have as good a time here between Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

Overall 4/10

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Review

Posted on by
Reply


Coming of age stories are always a very hard sell for me. They tend to be a bit more dramatic than needed and also make the characters look very whiny. Look, coming of age isn’t particularly hard. Being a kid is fun. Being a teen is fun. And yeah being an adult is fun too. Each part tends to have its high points but as a kid you can still be a high quality character yet these films always portray kids as being the most annoying characters possible. You just shake your head every time they show up.

Margaret is the main character here and the film starts with her family letting her know that they are moving over to New Jersey. Margaret has been a lifetime New yorker and so she isn’t happy about this. To her, NYC is where it’s at but the parents take her along to start the next chapter of her life. The next door neighbor shows up and announces that they can be friends. This girl is really outgoing and Margaret is just glad to have a friend so quickly. This girl has several other friends so all of a sudden Margaret is in a clique. It all feels fun but there is something empty about this life and she also begins to realize that she may be a pat of the bully squad. How can she get out of this?

Another source for drama here is that her father is Jewish and her mother is Christian. Naturally both religions are completely incompatible and she will need to choose one at some point. They made a joint decision not to pressure her one way or the other but the stakes are naturally high. Only one of them can be right after all and the wrong one will be going to hell by the end. Can Margaret really afford to take it slow right now? In a way the parents decision to not pressure her also means it’ll be tough for Margaret to ask either one for help so she is really on her own here.

This one mostly only starts to become a big deal by the climax of the film when the family gets involved and naturally escalates things. You want to say that everyone can just get along but I dare say this is a bigger deal than if your family has opposing politics. Opposing religions is literally a matter of life and death based on the outcomes according to each type. It’s why if you intend to have kids, I would argue you should not marry if you have different beliefs. It will only lead to problems down the line and you also have to consider that it is easier to be dragged down than to bring someone up. So if you marry thinking that you can convert your partner, think again. That is a massive risk no matter how you look at it.

Back to Margaret though, a big problem with her character is how easy it is to cause her to act cruelly towards the other kids. She believes rude rumors about a tall classmate right away and never even stops to think that this could be a lie. So she is hanging out with the bullies and never suspects a thing. She also allows them to convince her to do crazy things and never utilizes her freewill. She is just too desperate to fit in the whole time. It would have been nice if she could have confided in her parents more instead of just hiding things. Her mom in particular tried doing her best to help out but when the secrets are kept, there is only so much that the adults can do. They were basically frozen out.

Margaret is also just a kid so it’s a bit early for her to be thinking about crushes and stuff. The parents definitely needed to make sure games like spin the bottle and the closet of doom weren’t being played. Fortunately those are games that don’t really get played as much nowadays. I like to think most people have seen the problems with them but even for back in the day it’s crazy to think those things were happening. I would view the film in general as a good cautionary tale to be careful who you hang out with.

Everyone thinks they can be the exception but if you hang out with troublemakers then you will probably become one yourself. You’ll just learn too many bad mentalities and habits over time. It’s why it was hard to even root for Margaret the whole time since you kept seeing her on the wrong side. Also the film’s idea of what the kids would talk about tended to be more on the annoying side. It’s not that the writing was bad per say. It might even be slightly realistic although I have my doubts. It’s just that the script is not engaging as a result so the pacing really drags on.

I’d say the only main character who was holding it together the whole time was the teacher. He was trying to be funny and help everyone out as much as he could. I would have said the mother too since I mainly enjoyed her character but she did allow herself to be used a bit too easily at the school. I was glad she got past that though. The grandparents on the father’s side felt very manipulative so they get a thumbs down. The grandmother on the mom’s side was perhaps a bit aggressive but I cut her more slack since she was there the whole time and had a great relationship with Margaret. So she earned more credit in advance. The father was decently solid too for most of the film, I was glad that he didn’t make a fuss about there being no furniture and just made himself comfortable anyway. It’s always good to be easygoing and just let the chips fall where they may. Unfortunately he crashes by the end of the film for having crazy magazines in the house, I thought Margaret was bluffing the whole time to fit in so I was shocked when she actually found them. Yeah that was a terrible look for the guy, he doesn’t seem to be living the most moral of lives.

Overall, This film definitely wasn’t up my alley. It’s just not all that interesting and often times when characters are written to be “super realistic” they tend to just be unlikable the whole time. This film badly needed better characters and maybe even more of a plot aside from the whole themes of growing up. That’s just not enough for a whole film and you still need something really interesting to catch your attention.

Overall 4/10

Insidious: The Red Door Review

Posted on by
Reply


Insidious has definitely fallen onto tough times over the years. I wish I could say it ended with a real bang but unfortunately this film was not even remotely good. It falls into pretty much all of the big horror traps you can think of. Annoying characters, a lackluster story, etc. There was really nothing about the movie that would really attract you to it and by the end it just feels like a waste. There isn’t even a really hype end stinger to leave the film off on a high note. They came close because I thought one character was about to turn evil but surprisingly this did not happen.

The film starts off with showing us how strained the relationship with Josh and his son Dalton is. Dalton is a super spoiled kid who is a jerk to everybody, but especially his father. The kid has really checked out and just wants to go to college to be away from his family. Josh ended up going through a divorce so he’s not doing great right now but is convinced by his ex to drive Dalton to school. The problem is that the hypnosis placed on both of them to forget their old memories has nearly come undone. The door to the Further is opening again and the demons are waiting by the gates. This could end up being fatal for the main characters.

One of the big problems this film has is that Dalton eats up the majority of the screentime and he never gets a whole lot better. He’s super annoying throughout the movie and seems like the kind of character who is easy to manipulate. His roommate ends up being a girl named Chris who teaches him all about going to the dark side and becoming a total delinquent. Unfortunately for her, she is now roped into this death battle against the demons since Dalton wants to try out his astral projection ability. I have to agree with Chris being upset about this because it does put her in a lot of trouble right out of the gate. Not a very pleasant thing for a friend to be doing right? Dalton doesn’t really put a whole lot of thought into her safety at all.

Until the ending you could also say there’s not much reason for Dalton to be messing with this ability. If anything, all of the signs point to this being a mistake like how he keeps drawing doors and even injures himself from drawing too hard. These are massive signs to stay away from the supernatural. At least in the end he gets to bond a bit with his father but it was a long road to get there and basically any scene over at the school was a rough one. Meanwhile Chris was at least taking things in stride a lot more but I still can’t give her many points because of what a bad influence she was. If you thought that sorority/frat parties sounded bad, this film won’t change your mind.

Josh’s story is a whole lot more interesting which is why it should have gotten more screentime. Basically the hypnosis did a lot of damage to his life like contributing to his divorce and in the years since then his mind has been really foggy. The hypnosis did a number on his brain after all and so he was really put in a tough spot here. Now I don’t think it’s earned when he is mad at his ex though because he did try to murder her while possessed. At that point I think you do basically lose any kind of argument for how things could have worked out. It was also apparently partially his idea to be mind wiped.

Ultimately Josh just needed to do a better job of resisting the demons and I know that is easier said than done. Still, at least he feels like a tougher character than Dalton and is just more fun. You won’t see him being pressured into doing anything too crazy. The plots take a long while to converge though which is unfortunate. Also one of the most jarring exposition scenes is when Chris randomly finds a video about people discussing astral projection. The odds of her finding these guys in particular is one thing but they act like this is a fascinating new concept. Everyone knows what Astral Projection is, I don’t see what was so shocking about this. Believing that it is real would be shocking, but not the concept itself.

As for the scares, it’s basically your average kind of jump scares. The film relies a bit too much on gross type horror like one character puking and a lot of the demons just looking really ugly. It’s more grotesque than scary and the iconic villain only has a cameo this time around. The human possession is also one of the less scary kinds of horror villains because you’d rather be seeing the demon try to fight them. This doesn’t seem like final film material, it could have been the threat for any of the films in this series.

The writing is okay I suppose but without any real likable characters that does limit the film’s potential right off the bat. Then the film can also feel a bit on the long side as a result. I gotta say, the movie could and should have been a whole lo better than it was. The way it turned out, it’s not a film I would be interested in re watching.

Overall, Insidious: The Red Door suffers from being a standard horror film. It doesn’t come close to matching the visuals of the original Insidious and it’s lacking anything all that memorable. It’s not the worst Insidious film but you will struggle to find any real positives about it. Horror films seem to be allergic to good characters most of the time but they would do the genre a whole world of good. Next time they should spend more time on the characters and less on the horror setup. We don’t need Dalton to draw the same things numerous times and calling his brother to confirm that something weird is going on. The scenes never go anywhere until the very end.

Overall 2/10

The Dawn Rider Review

Posted on by
Reply


John returns for another adventure and this time it’s more of a revenge thriller. Get ready for some classic Western hype. By now if you’ve seen John Wayne’s other films then you should understand the drill. If you haven’t seen any before, just think of this as a quick adventure film. It has a fun tone throughout and music that may be a tad generic but is catchy all the same. It’s a good film to watch.

The movie starts with John riding into town and seeing someone being forced to dance as he is shot at. John gets involved and immediately shows why he is the top gun in town. He outdraws the guy and then beats him up physically. Still, John manages to make friends with the guy and it turns out the other one being shot at was a villain anyway. It’s a small world and it turns out this guy works for John’s father but just as they arrive, the father is shot. Some hoodlums had done a heist and then they get out of there. John intends to avenge his father no matter what. How can he track these villains down though?

It’s nice to see John on the offensive right from the start here. He was definitely not going to back down easily and with his skills there are very few who can hope to stand against him. The film only lasts as long as it does because John has to find these guys but the fights themselves are a little quicker. One guy does put up a reasonable fight while they wrestle around but the victor is never in doubt. John is not somebody who will ever end up submitting. He would sooner die than be defeated here and that’s why he is such a living legend. You cannot underestimate him at any cost.

The main weakness that the film has is the villains are really not notable. Taking down John’s father was a big deal of course but aside from that they are just ordinary joes. Nobody to write home about or anything like that. They just exist to be absolutely devastated by John’s impressive gun combos. Another reason they last longer than they should is because they are easily able to convince Ben (The guy John became friends with) to turn against John. Now I didn’t mind this as much as I usually would since they’ve only been friends for a short while. Ben betraying him works well enough but it still does ensure that you don’t really like Ben much as a character.

The guy is just too easy to sucker the whole time and he also severely lacks in confidence. The guy feels like he needs a ring in order to propose instead of just going forward and doing it. Not really what you would like to see from a lead like this. Meanwhile the film does try to stick some romance into the picture by the end but it’s definitely more on the rushed side. The time skip at the end really comes out of nowhere.

You are hoping for a happy ending with a film like this of course but you will feel like the romance was still too out of the blue. You just didn’t need it here at all. It’s the kind of romance that is just here to check off the boxes instead of adding onto the plot. A weak romance like that will never succeed in feeling all that believable. Beyond that, the writing was solid as always. I enjoyed the script and how smug John always tends to act. He works really well as the main lead for that reason.

Meanwhile the soundtrack is fun enough even if there are no new tracks here. It’s the same tunes you’ve heard a million times but fortunately they are good tunes so it does work out well enough. The pacing is good too so the film has no main weaknesses. I think the best thing about a western like this one is the high replay value. You could re watch it at any time without any issues. The story beats will feel familiar but that’s because they are similar in all of the films so it helps stop you from thinking that you’ve just seen the exact same film.

Overall, The Dawn Rider is a pretty fun film. John really did well on the attack although as an older film it doesn’t feel as much like a revenge thriller as it probably would nowadays. It still keeps a high level of energy and all but you don’t feel the rage that you might expect. I suppose that might have been hard to picture for a film like this so the most important thing is that it’s a good film. I would definitely recommend checking it out whenever you have some time. You will get to see the power of a solid gunman in action.

Overall 7/10